ICSU Regional Committee for Asia and the Pacific Meets in Tehran
Tehran RCAP
The ICSU Regional Committee for Asia and the Pacific held its 3 rd meeting in Tehran , Iran on 6 and 7 March 2007. It was hosted by the University of Tehran ( ut.ac.ir ) and attended by 8 members of the Committee. Conflicts in travel and other schedules prevented four other members of the committee from attending. Professor Derek Gardiner, the newest member of the Committee who is based in Fiji attended the meeting for the first time.
The Committee was apprised of the activities of the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific since January by its Director, Professor Mohd Nordin Hasan, and on the implementation of the ICSU Strategic Plan 2006 – 2011 by Professor Thomas Rosswall, the Executive Director of ICSU. Various new activities were discussed including plans to hold a one-day forum on the implications of polar warming on earth systems, a brainstorming workshop to delineate and document the roles of academies and associations of science in Asia and the Pacific, and on a roundtable dialogue on freedom and responsibility in science in conjunction with the forthcoming meeting of the ICSU Committee on Freedom and Responsibility in science that will be held in Kuala Lumpur in October.
The basis of a framework for long-term collaboration with UNESCO was also discussed. It is likely that the focus of this collaboration will be capacity building for enhanced scientific research and understanding on the management and mitigation of hazards and disasters in Asia and the Pacific. It was learnt that the UNESCO office in Jakarta was also keen to involve ICSU in promoting research programmes on bio-energy and on science education.
Perhaps the most important matter discussed during the Meeting was on planning the key focus of research development work at the Regional Office. This had been narrowed down to three main themes: natural and human-induced environmental hazards and disasters; ecosystem approach in the management of water resources and food systems; and on energy sustainability. Science plans for the hazards and disasters, and for the ecosystem approach thematic areas, will be prepared and discussed among members of ICSU and key partner organizations at the ICSU Regional Meeting planned for November. With energy sustainability, the Regional Meeting will be used to carefully scope the work of the Regional Office in energy sustainability so that it will truly meet the critical needs of Asia and the Pacific.
